Chapter 14: ONE LAST CHANCE
"Look! He is awake!" Harry heard when he had finally woken up. He took a look around. He was in his room at the Hogsmeade Hotel. It was full of wizards; Harry couldn't understand how they all managed to get inside. Near him was Dumbledore.
"I think I underestimated the enemy." he said "Or maybe I overestimated you." He paused. "You're the first who got up. You were lucky. Only luck saved you this time. I saw a small yellow thing in midair. Chalcrad told me that it was the sign that a teleportation spell didn't work properly. Thinking that Erised never failed a simple spell like that, Chalcrad told me you had to be in danger. That spell was stopped by something. Immediately after that, he disappeared. He left... to save you. He should continue... he knows more than I do."
Dumbledore stood up. He left the room after he spent a long time trying to find his way through the crowd. He ordered anyone to get out of the room. After a few minutes he returned with Chalcrad himself.
"You are awake... at last. You can now tell me what happened because I still have no idea."
Dumbledore stopped him. "Just tell him what you did and then everything will be explained."
"Well... Okay. I teleported to the place you were. And I was hit immediately by a thunder spell. It drained some of my energy; magi are vulnerable while casting spells. The teleportation spell wasn't complete when it stroke me. But that didn't stop me anyway. saw you four and thought of another teleportation - one which could take us out fast enough. I couldn't risk being hit by another thunder. I did a fast lightning-based teleportation. I knew that if a thunder hit me it would just give energy and help me with the spell. Well, it didn't happen though. I almost missed your friend with the spell - lucky that I saw it the last moment or he was left there. That is all that happened there."
Harty thought a minute of how to start; he had to tell Chalcrad and Dumbledore everything what happened there.
Harry remained silent after that explanation. No one had anything to say about it. Harry only knew one thing - he had to do practice or he couldn't survive Voldemort's wrath. He couldn't just sit there in his Durmstrang fortress. He was surely doing something. What, Harry couldn't know.
He was quite upset that he couldn't do anything to find Voldemort's plans. Whatever they were, those plans could be very important and they were vital for them to find.
Chalcrad left the room; soon followed by Dumbledore. Harry remained in the room alone. He decided to go to sleep again because he was still tired and he needed it...
He woke up. It was dark outside. Harry couldn't see anything through that darkness but he was not sleepy anymore. He got up and took his wand from his pocket. "Lumos!" and a small light was created at the top of his wand. He saw the clock near the window. The time was 5:26 AM.
The door was open. Harry, hungry as he was, went out of the room hoping that he would eventually find some food. Before reaching the stairs, he heard some voices that came from a room near him. That had to be Ron's room. Harry pushed the door to open it.
"Harry!" it was Hermione who ran to him, giving him a hug. "Thanks God you're fine!"
Ron was near Hermoine, looking at Harry with the same expression on his face as Hermione had.
"I am fine" Harry said. "But what about you? When I woke up you were still unconscious."
"We know" said Hermione. "Dumbledore told us."
"Why are you so quiet?" asked Harry looking at Ron.
"Dunno" Ron answered.
"Why are you awake at this time? It is very early..."
"We can't sleep." answered Ron. "Looks like you can't, either..."
"Right" Harry answered. "Where can I eat something? I'm starving!"
"Follow me" said Ron. All three of them went down the stairs, where they found a large magic fridge(it was full at anytime, the food grown insine automatically). They ate for about one hour. They couldn't imagine how all that food could fit in their stomachs.
After that, they went back to their rooms. Everyone was sleepy by then so they went to sleep immediately. Harry was lying on his bed, looking around his room. He hadn't noticed before how interresting it was decorated. On the top of the wall, right under the ceiling, there were sculpted some irregulat shapes that made everything look twice as good. He stared at the clock, which stopped. He couldn't tell what was the time. He decided to sleep, and that he would see tomorrow what would happen.
But he had a very strange dream that night. He was somewhere in an attic. It was an old, dusty place. He couldn't see much because of the penetrating darkness around him. Then he heard some voices. He didn't recognize them. He couldn't understand either; the floor he was standing on didn't allow the sound to reach him too well.
He took his wand from his robes, and whispered "stupefy" pointing to the floor. The spell created a small hole in the floor, without making ahy noise. The persons beneath Harry haven't noticed that.
Light penetrated the darkness, making everything around Harry visible. But there were almost no things to see. Except for a few dusty chairs, there was nothing inside. But suddenly, the light turned red. Harry looked through the small hole and saw the light source. It was a huge portal standing in the middle of the room. The two persons speaking were two Death Eaters who Harry didn't know.
"Well, I've got to go" one of them said. "But never forget, Do not let anyone enter the Durmstrang castle. Our Lord won't be pleased... Especially now, when he hides the plans where he wrote everything about Harry Potter... You know, he wrote everything about how he gained Harry Potter's powers and how Harry Potter can remove his own blood from Voldemort's body... Well we shouldn't talk about this now..."
"Right. Well, then I'll go... Do well your job, because our future deppends on it."
The first Death Eater stepped into the portal. He instantly disappeared, just like the portal did. The left Death Eater went outside the house. He turned off the lights, leaving Harry in another darkness. He just waited for the dream to end, as usual... but it didn't.
Then it hit him. He couldn't actually be in a dream! He casted a stupefy on the floor, a thing that no one could do in a dream. He could cast a Lumos, too, couldn't he? "Lumos" he muttered, while the entire attic was lit again.
But he casted a beam while being in ghost form... and that bothered him. What if he was in a dream, but he wouldn't wake up? That couldn't be a good thing. And the thought of doing so many unusual things bothered him the most. He wished he was anyone around else at Hogwarts... Because he really disliked being famous. He disliked the looks everyone gave him when they saw him on the streets. If he wasn't famous, he could have been at home(something he could call home, not as living at the Durslyes.), as every student except him, while Harry Potter was trapped in some strange dreams.
But unfortunately, he was Harry Potter. And he had to find a way out of the dream. He pointed his want to the roof, and shot another stupefy(totally forgetitng his mage powers). Some tiles fell to the floor. The sky was visible through the small hole. He shot another stupefy, and another one. He continued doing that until he left a quite large gap in the ceiling. He exited through it.
He was on the top of a house which was in the middle of a forest. The second Death Eater could be seen walking on an alley in the distance. He liked being at a height, he enjoyed them. Two things cane into his mind: Ghosts and Quidditch. Those were the times when he was at heights... He imagined he was a ghost, as in a trance, and started walking to the margins of the roofs. Luckily that he remembered he wasn't a ghost anymore, or he had fallen. And it couldn't be a good thing... Even if he was used to injuries and pain. He fell off the broom twice in the middle of a Quidditch game. Once in his second year and once in his third one; but after he fell in the second year, he had his bones removed and re-grown. It was a very painful process. And after that, not to forget that he was hit by the Cruciatus curse three times...
Then he looked around again... He really enjoyed it; he really felt himself... not in a dream at all. The sky was a dark blue, it was still night... He liked nights. But it was not much time until the sun had to rise.
He couldn't enjoy the surroundings too much because everything went dark again. And when he opened his eyes, he was not in the Hogsmeade Hotel. That was another house. This time he didn't feel as before. He felt as in a dream. The sensation that he couldn't do more than watch returned... And he was right. A moment later, someone entered the room he was in... This time it was the Death Eater that stepped into the portal. He was carying a white parchment with some words written on it. He put it on a table and started inspecting it. Harry looked at it, too. He couldn't believe it; he was looking exactly at what he most wished to look at: one of Voldemort's plans...
In the middle of the parchment there was drawn a red orb, with some inscription around it. He read the title.
"THE ORB OF THE POENIX
the curing object"
It had to be something important... Harry stood in a different angle so he could read easier, and started reading everything.
"The Orb of the Phoenix is one of the most magical items in the world. It is able to cure a body of everything that is not part of it. It cures poison, magical potions and blood. Created by transfigurating a Phoenix to an orb, it has healing powers as well. It keeps everyone around it in a good mood."
There was some handwriting at the bottom of the page. It read "Cures the effects done by me on Harry Potter and Erised." That had to be written by Voldemort, himself.
There were many other explanations around the image of the orb, but it was enough for Harry. He knew what he had to do... Finding the Orb and using it on Voldemort. That could remove all of Harry's blood from Voldemort... and that meant Harry didn't have to wory about Voldemort using a mago-wizard spell... And the draining - it would be gone. Voldemort could do nothing against Harry then... His powers would be no match to a mago-wizard's.
But first, Harry had to escape from the trap-dream he was in. That moment everything went black again... Harry was just hoping he would return to Hogsmeade... Because there was where he had to be. There was the real "him".
He woke up then. He was in Hogsmeade. At last the dream was over; he now felt relieved...
He looked at the clock again, forgetting that it didn't work. It was light outside; it was morning already... But he had to tell someone about the strangest dream he ever had. He called Erised through the distant-talking spell. Erised told him that the time was about eleven in the morning, so Harry had to get up soon.
That was what he did. The road in Hogsmeade was in front of him. He could see the entire Hogsmeade again... It was a very good feeling after being trapped inside a dream. But still, how could he cast spells in a dream? He went to call Dumbledore; maybe he was the poerson who had answers. Or maybe not...
Dumbledore was to be found in the Three Broomsticks as usual, entertaining a group of wizards with some jokes. When Harry entered, he turned to him and his face wasn't smiling anymore. He was serious again, as he had rarely been...
"Good Morning," said Harry.
"Good Morning, Harry," answered Dumbledore. "How are you?"
"Fine... I just had a dream last night."
Everyone was looking at Harry then.
"What was it about?"
"Voldemort." Everyone winked when they heard the name. "I didn't see him, I just overheard two Death Eaters saying that the plans Voldemort hides are exactly what we need - they contain the explanation of everything Voldemort used on me and Erised. And from one dream I was transported to another. I saw one of the plans about the Orb of the Phoenix."
Harry continued explaining every detail. He told him about his ability to cast spells, the only thing he didn't say was the trance that mastered him while being on the roof. That looked a bit stupid and of no importance.
"Well then, Harry," Dumbledore said in conclusion, "We have to profit of our last chance. We must... find that orb of the Phoenix, and use it against Lord Voldemort... Once and Forever. He won't have the ability he has now. Oh and look what I've found out - You and Erised are not the only ones he took blood from... He has the power of multiple wizards. He stole their blood when he was in his years of triumph, about twenty years ago."
Harry was a bit shocked after hearing that. Well it explained a lot of things. He was a strong wizard before he took Erised's blood, too...
At that moment, Hermione entered the Three Broomsticks. She had a shocked face, and she was holding a Daily Prophet in her hands. She looked gravely at Harry and Dumbledore.
"Mornin'" said Harry.
But Hermione didn't reply. She just stood terrified.
"What is the matter?" asked Harry.
"H... Have you read the Daily - Prophet?" she managed to ask.
"No," answered Harry.
"Well, you should. Take a look at this!" she said pointing to an article that was titled "You-Know-Who Strikes Again"
Harry didn't like the sound of that. Dumbledore came near him. Dumbledore read loud:
"You-Know-Who Strikes Again.
Today, He-who-must-not-be-named attacked one Muggle German Town. He and a band of Death Eaters enjoyed destroying an entire town populated by confused Muggles which were aksing what was happening. He-who-must-not-be-named took full advantage of his very strong spells which use powers he gained by stealing Harry Potter's blood. Those spells were considered lost forever. It said that since 1800, no one could make one single weak spell of those. He destroyed Hogwarts two weeks ago with some of this magic, too.
The Muggle town had more than 500000 inhabitants, so the losses were terrible. Muggles will be suspecting something after that event."
No one said a word after Dumbledore read that. Everyone was shocked after it... Voldemort went too far by attacking a Muggle town like that. He surely wanted to rule the world... and kill any muggles in his way.
"It is clear now," said Dumbledore with a very serious tone. "We have to find that orb... soon."
"Look! He is awake!" Harry heard when he had finally woken up. He took a look around. He was in his room at the Hogsmeade Hotel. It was full of wizards; Harry couldn't understand how they all managed to get inside. Near him was Dumbledore.
"I think I underestimated the enemy." he said "Or maybe I overestimated you." He paused. "You're the first who got up. You were lucky. Only luck saved you this time. I saw a small yellow thing in midair. Chalcrad told me that it was the sign that a teleportation spell didn't work properly. Thinking that Erised never failed a simple spell like that, Chalcrad told me you had to be in danger. That spell was stopped by something. Immediately after that, he disappeared. He left... to save you. He should continue... he knows more than I do."
Dumbledore stood up. He left the room after he spent a long time trying to find his way through the crowd. He ordered anyone to get out of the room. After a few minutes he returned with Chalcrad himself.
"You are awake... at last. You can now tell me what happened because I still have no idea."
Dumbledore stopped him. "Just tell him what you did and then everything will be explained."
"Well... Okay. I teleported to the place you were. And I was hit immediately by a thunder spell. It drained some of my energy; magi are vulnerable while casting spells. The teleportation spell wasn't complete when it stroke me. But that didn't stop me anyway. saw you four and thought of another teleportation - one which could take us out fast enough. I couldn't risk being hit by another thunder. I did a fast lightning-based teleportation. I knew that if a thunder hit me it would just give energy and help me with the spell. Well, it didn't happen though. I almost missed your friend with the spell - lucky that I saw it the last moment or he was left there. That is all that happened there."
Harty thought a minute of how to start; he had to tell Chalcrad and Dumbledore everything what happened there.
Harry remained silent after that explanation. No one had anything to say about it. Harry only knew one thing - he had to do practice or he couldn't survive Voldemort's wrath. He couldn't just sit there in his Durmstrang fortress. He was surely doing something. What, Harry couldn't know.
He was quite upset that he couldn't do anything to find Voldemort's plans. Whatever they were, those plans could be very important and they were vital for them to find.
Chalcrad left the room; soon followed by Dumbledore. Harry remained in the room alone. He decided to go to sleep again because he was still tired and he needed it...
He woke up. It was dark outside. Harry couldn't see anything through that darkness but he was not sleepy anymore. He got up and took his wand from his pocket. "Lumos!" and a small light was created at the top of his wand. He saw the clock near the window. The time was 5:26 AM.
The door was open. Harry, hungry as he was, went out of the room hoping that he would eventually find some food. Before reaching the stairs, he heard some voices that came from a room near him. That had to be Ron's room. Harry pushed the door to open it.
"Harry!" it was Hermione who ran to him, giving him a hug. "Thanks God you're fine!"
Ron was near Hermoine, looking at Harry with the same expression on his face as Hermione had.
"I am fine" Harry said. "But what about you? When I woke up you were still unconscious."
"We know" said Hermione. "Dumbledore told us."
"Why are you so quiet?" asked Harry looking at Ron.
"Dunno" Ron answered.
"Why are you awake at this time? It is very early..."
"We can't sleep." answered Ron. "Looks like you can't, either..."
"Right" Harry answered. "Where can I eat something? I'm starving!"
"Follow me" said Ron. All three of them went down the stairs, where they found a large magic fridge(it was full at anytime, the food grown insine automatically). They ate for about one hour. They couldn't imagine how all that food could fit in their stomachs.
After that, they went back to their rooms. Everyone was sleepy by then so they went to sleep immediately. Harry was lying on his bed, looking around his room. He hadn't noticed before how interresting it was decorated. On the top of the wall, right under the ceiling, there were sculpted some irregulat shapes that made everything look twice as good. He stared at the clock, which stopped. He couldn't tell what was the time. He decided to sleep, and that he would see tomorrow what would happen.
But he had a very strange dream that night. He was somewhere in an attic. It was an old, dusty place. He couldn't see much because of the penetrating darkness around him. Then he heard some voices. He didn't recognize them. He couldn't understand either; the floor he was standing on didn't allow the sound to reach him too well.
He took his wand from his robes, and whispered "stupefy" pointing to the floor. The spell created a small hole in the floor, without making ahy noise. The persons beneath Harry haven't noticed that.
Light penetrated the darkness, making everything around Harry visible. But there were almost no things to see. Except for a few dusty chairs, there was nothing inside. But suddenly, the light turned red. Harry looked through the small hole and saw the light source. It was a huge portal standing in the middle of the room. The two persons speaking were two Death Eaters who Harry didn't know.
"Well, I've got to go" one of them said. "But never forget, Do not let anyone enter the Durmstrang castle. Our Lord won't be pleased... Especially now, when he hides the plans where he wrote everything about Harry Potter... You know, he wrote everything about how he gained Harry Potter's powers and how Harry Potter can remove his own blood from Voldemort's body... Well we shouldn't talk about this now..."
"Right. Well, then I'll go... Do well your job, because our future deppends on it."
The first Death Eater stepped into the portal. He instantly disappeared, just like the portal did. The left Death Eater went outside the house. He turned off the lights, leaving Harry in another darkness. He just waited for the dream to end, as usual... but it didn't.
Then it hit him. He couldn't actually be in a dream! He casted a stupefy on the floor, a thing that no one could do in a dream. He could cast a Lumos, too, couldn't he? "Lumos" he muttered, while the entire attic was lit again.
But he casted a beam while being in ghost form... and that bothered him. What if he was in a dream, but he wouldn't wake up? That couldn't be a good thing. And the thought of doing so many unusual things bothered him the most. He wished he was anyone around else at Hogwarts... Because he really disliked being famous. He disliked the looks everyone gave him when they saw him on the streets. If he wasn't famous, he could have been at home(something he could call home, not as living at the Durslyes.), as every student except him, while Harry Potter was trapped in some strange dreams.
But unfortunately, he was Harry Potter. And he had to find a way out of the dream. He pointed his want to the roof, and shot another stupefy(totally forgetitng his mage powers). Some tiles fell to the floor. The sky was visible through the small hole. He shot another stupefy, and another one. He continued doing that until he left a quite large gap in the ceiling. He exited through it.
He was on the top of a house which was in the middle of a forest. The second Death Eater could be seen walking on an alley in the distance. He liked being at a height, he enjoyed them. Two things cane into his mind: Ghosts and Quidditch. Those were the times when he was at heights... He imagined he was a ghost, as in a trance, and started walking to the margins of the roofs. Luckily that he remembered he wasn't a ghost anymore, or he had fallen. And it couldn't be a good thing... Even if he was used to injuries and pain. He fell off the broom twice in the middle of a Quidditch game. Once in his second year and once in his third one; but after he fell in the second year, he had his bones removed and re-grown. It was a very painful process. And after that, not to forget that he was hit by the Cruciatus curse three times...
Then he looked around again... He really enjoyed it; he really felt himself... not in a dream at all. The sky was a dark blue, it was still night... He liked nights. But it was not much time until the sun had to rise.
He couldn't enjoy the surroundings too much because everything went dark again. And when he opened his eyes, he was not in the Hogsmeade Hotel. That was another house. This time he didn't feel as before. He felt as in a dream. The sensation that he couldn't do more than watch returned... And he was right. A moment later, someone entered the room he was in... This time it was the Death Eater that stepped into the portal. He was carying a white parchment with some words written on it. He put it on a table and started inspecting it. Harry looked at it, too. He couldn't believe it; he was looking exactly at what he most wished to look at: one of Voldemort's plans...
In the middle of the parchment there was drawn a red orb, with some inscription around it. He read the title.
"THE ORB OF THE POENIX
the curing object"
It had to be something important... Harry stood in a different angle so he could read easier, and started reading everything.
"The Orb of the Phoenix is one of the most magical items in the world. It is able to cure a body of everything that is not part of it. It cures poison, magical potions and blood. Created by transfigurating a Phoenix to an orb, it has healing powers as well. It keeps everyone around it in a good mood."
There was some handwriting at the bottom of the page. It read "Cures the effects done by me on Harry Potter and Erised." That had to be written by Voldemort, himself.
There were many other explanations around the image of the orb, but it was enough for Harry. He knew what he had to do... Finding the Orb and using it on Voldemort. That could remove all of Harry's blood from Voldemort... and that meant Harry didn't have to wory about Voldemort using a mago-wizard spell... And the draining - it would be gone. Voldemort could do nothing against Harry then... His powers would be no match to a mago-wizard's.
But first, Harry had to escape from the trap-dream he was in. That moment everything went black again... Harry was just hoping he would return to Hogsmeade... Because there was where he had to be. There was the real "him".
He woke up then. He was in Hogsmeade. At last the dream was over; he now felt relieved...
He looked at the clock again, forgetting that it didn't work. It was light outside; it was morning already... But he had to tell someone about the strangest dream he ever had. He called Erised through the distant-talking spell. Erised told him that the time was about eleven in the morning, so Harry had to get up soon.
That was what he did. The road in Hogsmeade was in front of him. He could see the entire Hogsmeade again... It was a very good feeling after being trapped inside a dream. But still, how could he cast spells in a dream? He went to call Dumbledore; maybe he was the poerson who had answers. Or maybe not...
Dumbledore was to be found in the Three Broomsticks as usual, entertaining a group of wizards with some jokes. When Harry entered, he turned to him and his face wasn't smiling anymore. He was serious again, as he had rarely been...
"Good Morning," said Harry.
"Good Morning, Harry," answered Dumbledore. "How are you?"
"Fine... I just had a dream last night."
Everyone was looking at Harry then.
"What was it about?"
"Voldemort." Everyone winked when they heard the name. "I didn't see him, I just overheard two Death Eaters saying that the plans Voldemort hides are exactly what we need - they contain the explanation of everything Voldemort used on me and Erised. And from one dream I was transported to another. I saw one of the plans about the Orb of the Phoenix."
Harry continued explaining every detail. He told him about his ability to cast spells, the only thing he didn't say was the trance that mastered him while being on the roof. That looked a bit stupid and of no importance.
"Well then, Harry," Dumbledore said in conclusion, "We have to profit of our last chance. We must... find that orb of the Phoenix, and use it against Lord Voldemort... Once and Forever. He won't have the ability he has now. Oh and look what I've found out - You and Erised are not the only ones he took blood from... He has the power of multiple wizards. He stole their blood when he was in his years of triumph, about twenty years ago."
Harry was a bit shocked after hearing that. Well it explained a lot of things. He was a strong wizard before he took Erised's blood, too...
At that moment, Hermione entered the Three Broomsticks. She had a shocked face, and she was holding a Daily Prophet in her hands. She looked gravely at Harry and Dumbledore.
"Mornin'" said Harry.
But Hermione didn't reply. She just stood terrified.
"What is the matter?" asked Harry.
"H... Have you read the Daily - Prophet?" she managed to ask.
"No," answered Harry.
"Well, you should. Take a look at this!" she said pointing to an article that was titled "You-Know-Who Strikes Again"
Harry didn't like the sound of that. Dumbledore came near him. Dumbledore read loud:
"You-Know-Who Strikes Again.
Today, He-who-must-not-be-named attacked one Muggle German Town. He and a band of Death Eaters enjoyed destroying an entire town populated by confused Muggles which were aksing what was happening. He-who-must-not-be-named took full advantage of his very strong spells which use powers he gained by stealing Harry Potter's blood. Those spells were considered lost forever. It said that since 1800, no one could make one single weak spell of those. He destroyed Hogwarts two weeks ago with some of this magic, too.
The Muggle town had more than 500000 inhabitants, so the losses were terrible. Muggles will be suspecting something after that event."
No one said a word after Dumbledore read that. Everyone was shocked after it... Voldemort went too far by attacking a Muggle town like that. He surely wanted to rule the world... and kill any muggles in his way.
"It is clear now," said Dumbledore with a very serious tone. "We have to find that orb... soon."